Spelling Games for 3rd Grade Students

In the 3rd grade, spelling is typically an integral part of mastering various reading and writing skills. Keep reading for information about finding and creating your own spelling games that can help your 3rd grader at home.

Finding and Creating 3rd Grade Spelling Games

Chances are, the English/language arts and spelling curriculum at your child's school is based on the Common Core State Standards. Familiarizing yourself with these standards can be useful when it comes to knowing what your 3rd grader needs to know by the end of the school year. It's likely that your child's teacher will provide him or her with new spelling and vocabulary lists on a regular basis. You can use these lists when playing spelling games with your child at home.

Although you can purchase spelling books and worksheets, there are also free ways to help your child with spelling. The following are a few helpful spelling games you can play with your child at no cost.

Crosswords and Word Searches

Crosswords and word search puzzles can be a solid way to help your child memorize the spelling of new vocabulary words. You can create your own by hand, on a computer, or by using one of many websites. Some sites will even let you enter the spelling words you want to use. By having your child find spelling words in word searches and write them out in crossword puzzles, you'll be helping him or her commit them to memory in a tangible, applicable way.

Matching and Scrambling

Matching and unscrambling games are both useful learning tools for your 3rd grader. Matching games tend to help children remember the definitions of new spelling words in addition to how to spell them. Write a spelling list (in any particular order) in a column on the left side of a page. On the right, write the definitions. Have your child draw lines connecting the appropriate spelling words and meanings.

An scrambling game is precisely what it sounds like. After repeatedly going over spelling words with your child, scramble the order of the letters on a worksheet and ask him or her to unscramble the words so that they're spelled correctly.

Online Spelling Games

The Internet can be a valuable resource for free 3rd grade spelling games and activities. You can help your child with these online games or let him or her play solo. An example of a site with a plethora of spelling games is 'PBS Kids'. The games on this site are based on popular educational shows that your child may already be familiar with, like 'Clifford the Big Red Dog', 'Super Why!' and 'Between the Lions'.

American English is a complex language with a rich and diverse history. While this complexity adds color and variety, it also makes spelling a challenge. There are few completely universal axioms for spelling in English, but you can still help your child spell better by focusing on a handful of tips, tricks and widely applicable...

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